


Where Did The Party Go

by frenchpirate (Whiskey_n_speed)



Category: Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Halloween, High School, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-12
Updated: 2013-09-12
Packaged: 2017-12-26 09:25:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/964303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whiskey_n_speed/pseuds/frenchpirate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The one where Frank get's a new and nocturnal neighbor, Gerard throws a Halloween party that turns out far from what was expected, Pete wakes up on a strangers couch and Mikey really doesn't want any serenades (but that doesn't mean he isn't getting any).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Don’t chicken out on me, man” Frank complained, sending Pete his most disappointed look as he flicked his cigarette to the side of the road. They were standing at the bus stop in light rain, late Friday afternoon and finally, _finally_ weekend.

“Fuck you, I’m not chickening out. You were the one who got me that detention anyways, I can’t help my mom’s pissy” Pete shot back and crossed his arms. “You know I fucking want to go but I also kind of want to not being skinned alive by my folks”

  
“I didn’t get you any detention” Frank said and tried to sound offended, though he couldn’t help breaking into a smile. “I can’t help I’m better at hiding than you” 

Pete winced at the mention of it. A few days earlier, Frank had with all kinds of dirty tricks such as puppy eyes and promises about bumming cigarettes convinced Pete that it would be a good idea to sneak into the teacher’s lounge after school and spraypaint the anarchy symbol onto one of the walls, for no other reason than to see how pissed off the principal would get. And it had all gone very well until one of the substitutes had shown up to look for her forgotten scarf and Frank had been way faster to quietly mouth ‘fuck’ and crawl underneath one of the couches while Pete had been caught like a deer in the headlights of a car with a can of paint in his hand. He had gotten a week of detention and Frank had laughed so hard he almost cried afterwards. 

“I’m never forgiving you” Pete stated and shot Frank a judging glare. 

“Of course not” Frank giggled. “But you should totally sneak out anyways”

“I can’t, Frank, god dammit, if I get caught sneaking out one more time they are gonna put surveillance up in my room or something” Pete complained and let his cigarette follow Franks. 

“You suck” Frank said and Pete shrugged. The both started moving towards the road as the bus appeared in the distance. 

“You suck harder” Pete said and couldn’t help but snicker too.

***

If anyone had asked Frank in the past week, this would be the most epic show all year and everyone should get their lazy asses out of bed and go see it, but when it came down to it, he very well knew that it wasn’t going to be much better than all the other local shows he went to every other week or so. But he said that every time there was an upcoming concert, and this time was no exception. And anyways, there was beer and mosh pits and music so of course it’d be cool. 

He had called Pete one last time and begged him to go, once again just ending up with Pete complaining about his parents, so in the end he just went by himself. It was okay though, because he hadn’t even gotten inside the venue before a well-known voice sounded across the heads of all the people making their way in. 

“Well, if it isn’t Frank Iero” 

“Gabe, hey” Frank greeted as Gabe made his way through the pushing crowd, and slung a long arm around Franks shoulders. A couple of minutes later they were approached by a few of Gabes friends that Frank didn’t recognize, as Gabe was barely out of high school and already knew more people than any adult Frank knew, combined. 

Gabe and his friends accompanied Frank inside, of course, after Gabe had called Frank out on his briefly applied eyeliner and bright colored sneakers, and he was handed someone’s beer within 5 minutes which Frank appreciated cordially since he was not nearly tall enough to buy alcohol himself. And he didn’t leave them either until the band went on stage and people started moshing right in front of the stage. He’d always been a massive sucker for the pit and beers and friend or not, he had to get down there.

In Franks bummed out experience, an hour and a half passed really fast when he was sweating and shoving and dancing and pushing, and it felt like not even ten minutes had passed by when the band suddenly thanked the audience and left the stage. 

Personally, Frank could’ve kept on going anyways, but the crowd started to break up and go their separate ways to the back of the venue or the wardrobe or the bar, so he reluctantly followed. He tried to find Gabe and his friends but soon assumed that they had already left, since you could usually tell on a 400 feet distance, by the level of noise, if Gabe Saporta was in the house or not. So Frank went home, as he didn’t really know anyone else except for a couple of girls from his school that he briefly said hi to.

 

Frank was not anything near intoxicated as he walked down his own street, having only downed three quarters of the beer Gabe handed him, but he still felt a really good kind of dizzy and sore in most of his muscles. A thing he loved about the venue he’d been at tonight was that they were never cheap with the bass amps, and the vibrations from them always made everyone feel kind of high, kind of turned on. 

It was probably because he felt slightly drunk on the concert and probably also because it was almost 2 am and he was tired, that he almost passed the house next to his without noticing that the lights was turned on in the whole ground floor, which was pretty fucking weird to Frank since the house had been standing empty since the officious old lady that had lived there all Franks life, had died a few months back. 

He stopped walking, and stared at the house for a while. He couldn’t see anyone in there and was kind of creeped out, since he didn’t recall seeing anyone moving in the past few days. And he was sure that no one had lived there a week ago, since he had sometimes crashed on the porch if he’d been fighting with his mom and didn’t want to spend the night at home, the last time being last Saturday after a party. But his curiosity easily overpowered his discomfort because he quickly scooted closer to the fence that surrounded the front yard and started looking for some kind of movement.

He didn’t have to look long because it didn’t take more than a couple of minutes before the front door was opened and two men stepped out of it. They didn’t seem to notice him, and just headed for a van that was parked in the driveway, which Frank hadn’t noticed before due to the darkness, so he just watched them for another while. 

The taller one of the men opened the back of the van and handed a big box to the smaller man before getting one for himself too. It wasn’t until they casually started walking back towards the house with the boxes that Frank realized that they were _moving in._

“That’s a weird fuckin’ time to take over a new house” Frank blurted before he could help himself. And as he drew attention to his presence, the smaller man shrieked and dropped his box in shock, and what looked like kitchen utensils and cutlery scattered out on the ground. The taller one barely moved out of his spot. 

“Fuck, shit” the man who’d lost his box dropped to his knees and started picking things up, before raising his head and looking somewhere in Franks direction. Frank couldn’t really see it due to the darkness. “You scared the livin’ shit out of me. Who the fuck are you?” 

“I’m Frank. I live next door” he said and then after a while, “Why are you out in the middle of the night? Are you like, vampires or something?” 

The taller one seemed to think about it for a while, and then he shrugged. “Maybe. But you’re out in the middle of the night too” 

“I’m just on my way home. I was at a show” Frank explained with a honest expression that he doubted that any of them could spot in the dark. 

“How do we know that _you’re_ not actually the vampire? You could totally be lying about the show” the tall one said, but with a kind of joking tone to his voice. Frank wasn’t really scared of any of them anymore. Actually they seemed cool. Cooler than the old lady that lived there before at least. 

“You’d never have a chance of knowing” Frank grinned. 

“Wait, you said you were at a show” the guy on the ground asked. His voice sounded genuinely interested, and Frank wished that the light from the open front door of their house reached all the way out here so he could see who he was talking to. 

“Yea, I did” 

“Was it the one at the harbor venue, kind of post-hardcore, female drummer, uh-“ the guy continued before Frank cut him off.

“Yea that was totally the one. It was awesome” 

“Fuck, I told you we should’ve gone” he said, turning his attention to the man above him. “Why couldn’t we just have done this tomorrow”

“I have stuff tomorrow” the tall one simply shrugged, before heading back towards the house. 

“Well, you’ve got cool music taste Frank” the small one said after his friend disappeared inside. “And I guess I’ll see you around then. I’m Gerard by the way” 

“Yea, see you, uh, Gerard” Frank said, before turning away from the fence and heading for his own house, quieting down his steps the closer he got to it as he didn’t want to wake up his mom.

***

“You were home late, weren’t you?” his mom asked as he entered the kitchen the next morning, just out of the shower and with a tired look on his face. 

“Not particularly” he lied. 

“I went to bed at 11 and you weren’t home by then” she argued and Frank shrugged. 

“It wasn’t more than half an hour later than that, it kind of dragged out with the science project, but we caught up on it pretty well” he explained smoothly. 

“Oh, that’s nice honey” she said before turning back to her magazine, and not speaking any more of it. His mom usually wouldn’t let him go to concerts and parties because, as she said, he wasn’t responsible enough to keep it under control, so that was why he made up The Friday Study Group, which he excitedly told his mom about every Saturday morning after he’d been out doing whatever with his friends, and he still couldn’t believe she actually ate it all up. 

He’d told Pete about Study Group, just to be sure that if his mom suddenly asked Pete about some math assignment that Pete didn’t know anything about because it didn’t really exist, he could always play along and save Franks ass. 

In reality, Frank rarely did any kind of homework, and mostly survived senior year on improvising and trying to stay invisible in the back of the classroom. It had gone pretty well so far, but then again they were also barely a month into the school year. 

And to say the least, if Frank rarely did homework, then Pete had never picked up a book, and he didn’t really have to either because he was the star of the soccer team and could get into a few colleges just by telling them that. 

Frank himself, didn’t understand how Pete managed to be the best player on the whole team when games always were Saturday around noon and most weekends he and Pete had been out getting drunk on Fridays and were massively hungover the next day. But it was kind of admirable. 

And sometimes Frank showed up to watch Pete matches, always at least halfway through the game because he was slow to get out of bed and shower and get all the way from his house to the football fields, but none the less he was almost always there, cheering half-heartedly and laughing whole-heartedly whenever Pete fell over and things like that. And in exchange Pete would be there every time Frank got on stage with his guitar on lame school open mic nights, and he would always yell something offensive if the room went quiet and afterwards they would both laugh because the teacher’s faces clearly expressed what they thought of Franks lyrics.

 

And so Frank ended up on the bleachers this Saturday too, and waited there until Pete came back from the locker rooms, damp skin in the cool weather and a shit eating grin across his face. 

“You saw that goal? Coach said it was the best he’d seen in a while” Pete bragged and settled next to Frank. 

“How could I have missed it” Frank said and handed Pete a cigarette as well as getting on for himself as soon as he’d made sure that the coach was nowhere to be seen. 

“You couldn’t. So, did I miss out on anything great last night?” Pete asked, slightly regretfully. 

“The show was pretty sweet. I got at least ten bruises and I ran into Gabe Saporta” Frank explained. “I also got new neighbors” 

“What does that have to do with the show?” Pete asked and gave Frank back the lighter he’d stolen from his pocket a second ago, so Frank could light up as well. They both leaned back on the bleachers and blew smoke up in the air as Frank held a thoughtful pause. 

“They moved in last night. In the middle of the fucking night. Weird types, I tell you” Frank said and Pete frowned at him. 

“Why would anyone move in during the night?” 

“Fuck if I know. I just asked them if they were vampires, oh yeah and one of them also liked the band I saw” Frank said with a shrug. “They’re kinda cool I guess” 

“Hm. But, more importantly-“ Pete started and his expression suddenly turned excited. “I can totally go out tonight, and Joe is throwing this party and it’s gonna be epic” 

“I’m in” Frank said almost before Pete finished the sentence. He would literally never miss a chance to go out and get drunk if he could avoid it.

 

Soon, the coach appeared from the door to the locker rooms and they both got up and hurried down to the bus stop before he could bust them smoking. The last thing Frank needed was a lecture from his mom on why smoking was bad because school had called and told on him.

They spent the rest of the afternoon at Franks, lazily playing Guitar Hero and discussing whether Frank owned Pete more cigarettes from the incident last week or if they were equal, which Frank was completely convinced that they were, while Pete thought that he needed at least a week more of cigarettes before he could forgive Frank. 

Once in a while Frank curiously shot a glance out the window and over to the neighbor house, but the windows were dark and there was no signs of life whatsoever, even the van was gone from the driveway and for a minute Frank even questioned if it had even been a dream. That was, until he noticed a couple of forks still lying in the grass, where the guy who called himself Gerard had dropped them last night. 

A few hours later, Pete went home to get ready and Frank went back to the game after shooting a last glance out the window.

 

Later that night, Frank met up with Pete in front of Joe’s house, both dressed up a lot more than when they’d been hanging out earlier. Frank was wearing his signature jeans that fitted as if they were painted on his skin and he felt fucking ready to conquer the world. 

And unlike at shows where the bartender would just look at Frank with a semi-amused expression if he asked for a beer, private parties always equaled unlimited alcohol. Or at least enough to get him unconscious. So it didn’t take more than a couple of hours before Frank was in a very good, very yelling mood, moving his body to the tunes of the whatever really underground band had been put on the record player. He was circulating around on the dancefloor, drink in one hand and grinding against anyone who looked up for it while Pete had disappeared off to somewhere with someone. The only way this night could get better was pretty much if someone had some pot they were willing to share or if someone hot suddenly had an uncontrollably desire to have sex with him. But there wasn’t really any risk that any of that would happen tonight, so Frank took what he could get, which in this case was another fruity drink with way too much gin in it. 

Frank didn’t know what he expected, but of course he ran into Gabe Saporta later, because Gabe could spot a party from a 10 mile distance, and suddenly Frank had a very tall, very drunk guy slung around his shoulders. 

“Frank, you little motherfucker, we meet again” he slurred and Frank just nodded and kept moving to the music, as he couldn’t really dance as much as before with Gabe weighing on him. “Are you always wearing these clothes?” 

“Only when I go out” Frank replied with a snicker. “You don’t have any weed, do you?”

“No man, it’s all gone. All gone man” Gabe said with a reluctant shake of his head and started swaying with Frank. “Why are you always wearing eyeliner?” 

“I like it” Frank shrugged, and closed his eyes briefly before quickly opening them again. He was pretty sure it wouldn’t take him many more fruity drinks before he needed to find somewhere he could pass out. 

“It makes you look-“ Gabe started but then he didn’t seem to remember the words. 

“Hot?” Frank suggested and Gabe just laughed. 

“It makes you look like you would make out with me if I asked you to” Gabe finally said and it didn’t really make sense to Frank. 

“Are you hitting on me, Saporta?” 

“Fuck no, sorry to break it to you kid, but I’ve totally got a thing going with the hot brunette over there” he explained while trying to point somewhere across the room, but he couldn’t keep is arm still for so long that Frank could actually get which of the girls he meant. 

“Then why aren’t you dancing with her?” Frank asked and Gabe suddenly looked like he was thinking really hard. 

“Shit, you’re right. I’m gonna go woo her, but if it doesn’t work out I’m gonna come back here and make out with you, just to prove my point” 

“Sure” Frank said without really meaning it, while he moved on to dance with some girl he maybe had once had some classes with. He didn’t know. He didn’t really care either, he was just in a really zoned out state of mind and all he wanted to do was dance and maybe drink more. Yea, he most definitely wanted to drink more. 


	2. Chapter 2

When Frank walked home it was 6 am and Pete was by his side, staggering forward without really looking where he went. He’d already stopped to puke twice on the side of the road, and Frank could feel is own head spinning but he was still far more at his senses than Pete, though he also kind of expected that alcohol wasn’t the only thing Pete was under the influence of right now. 

He was pretty sure actually, since Pete had come running up to him about an hour ago and begged him to leave with a terrified look in his eyes that Frank was far too drunk to comprehend, and Pete had tugged on his sleeve and looked like he was about to puke and cry and pass out and punch someone all at the same time. Frank found it very exhausting, so he’d given in after almost no time and now they were here. 

“I can’t go home Frank. I can’t go home. They’re gonna kill me. I can’t go home Frank” Pete kept mumbling and he kept a hand steady on Franks shoulder to keep him from falling over. 

“I fucking know Pete, I told you we’re going to my place. But you better be fucking quiet” Frank said with a sigh and he felt his insides turn over. 

“I just can’t go home. My mom can’t see me like this. I’m so fucked up right now. I can’t go home” Pete kept mumbling and almost stumbled on a crack in the sidewalk.

They were almost at Franks street, and he’d be damned if Pete fell over now because there was in no way he could be this drunk and pick Pete up from the street while he was freaking out and tripping or whatever the fuck he was.

 

They made it almost the whole way to Frank house, but only almost, because at the house next to Franks there was light in the windows exactly as the night before, and Frank got so distracted from looking after some kind of movement in there, that he forgot to look out for Pete as well as himself. It resulted in Pete falling over and Frank almost following, only barely able to keep on his feet. 

He tried sitting down to help Pete up, but Pete was apparently completely convinced that his mom would come and find him like this and kick him out or something, because he kept mumbling in the same panicking tone of voice and was completely out of reach. 

So Frank just sat there for a while, waiting for either Pete to calm down or himself to sober up, and each could take a really fucking long time. So it was appreciated, besides the fact that he almost pissed himself in shock, when a voice suddenly sounded behind him. 

“Need a hand?” 

Frank twisted his torso around and looked back at the neighbor house. Gerard was sitting in the kitchen window, feet casually slung over the edge and smoke rising from his hand where a cigarette was placed. Frank hadn’t really seen how he looked the night before because of the darkness, and he couldn’t see him that well right now either, but he did spot that Gerard was probably younger than he’d first assumed. Mid-twenties, first twenties even, and he was really pale. Maybe he was actually a vampire. His hair was messy and his clothes looked grubby. 

“I could use two, for that matter” Frank replied and he would’ve laughed at his own joke if it wasn’t because the whole situation was rather miserable. 

“I have two hands” Gerard said and slowly put out his cigarette against the windowsill before letting himself slide down from where he was sitting and approach Frank and Pete.

 

It didn’t take much more than a couple of minutes to get both Frank and Pete on their feet again when Gerard was there to help. Pete just kept talking about his parents and Frank tried to thank Gerard for his help but the words wouldn’t really come out. 

So Gerard just started guiding them towards his own front door, walking on the left side of Pete, with an arm around him to keep him standing while Frank was on the other side of him. Frank was about to say that they really needed to get home, but once again his mouth wouldn’t really work with him, so he just kept up with Gerard so Pete wouldn’t fall over again. 

“What’s he on?” Gerard asked when they reached the door and he carefully pushed it open. He sounded more curious than worried or angry like most other adults probably would. 

“No idea” Frank slurred. “I’m kinda drunk”

“I figured” Gerard said and it sounded like he was almost laughing.

 

Inside the house it looked pretty much what anyone’s house would look like when they had just moved in. There were boxes everywhere and the furniture wasn’t really where it was supposed to be, but more just scattered around the room. 

“You need a glass of water?” Gerard asked and Frank shook his head. “How ‘bout your friend?”

“Probably” Frank said with a shrug and Gerard went into the kitchen and came back with a glass of water for Pete, who had helplessly sat down on a couch that was standing kind of misplaced in the middle of the room. 

“Why are you only up at night?” Frank found himself asking before he could stop. See, a minute ago his mouth wouldn’t even say any words at all and now it said too many. It was fucking typical.

“Dunno. I like it at night. I’m not a vampire” Gerard said and smiled at Frank. Inside where the lights were on, Frank got a better look at Gerard and he actually didn’t look that much older than Frank, who was almost 18, but judging by the fact that he had bought a house and lived on his own, Gerard was probably a college graduate. He also had really light eyes and really small teeth. He looked kind of dorky, and his jeans looked like they were about to fall apart. And then Frank noticed- 

“I like your shirt” he said and pointed obviously at the t-shirt where a huge Iron Maiden logo was sprawled across the chest. Gerard looked down and smiled. 

“I saw them a couple of months ago. It was the coolest show I’ve ever been to” he said with an excited smile. 

“Oh fuck, I’ve totally always wanted to see them. Lucky you” Frank said with an excessive pout and kept staring at Gerards shirt. He had one himself but it wasn’t nearly as cool as this one. 

“I’ve also got all of their records. I’ve collected them for ten years at least” Gerard smirked and Frank felt his eyes widen. 

“No fucking way” and then he did that thing where he forgot to stop talking again. “Show me”

“Sure” Gerard just said and headed over for a particular box that were standing on top of some other boxes against a wall. Frank eagerly followed and felt his jaw drop as Gerard opened the box and revealed not only Iron Maidens entire discography, but also a lot of other CD’s that Frank would give his soul and first born child to own. He looked up at Gerard in awe. “Holy shit” 

“It’s my brother, Mikey” Gerard said with a reassuring nod of his head. “He can get his hand on absolutely _any_ record you can imagine. He was the one who helped me move in” 

“That sounds awesome” Frank just said because he didn’t really know what else to. He was still pretty awestruck with the record collection, so much that he didn’t dare reach down into the box and pick any of them up. 

“Same goes with movies. I’ve got more original copies of old horrors than I can actually count- Sorry, now I’m just bragging” Gerard cut himself off and Frank just shook his head very slowly. 

“It’s okay. It’s really cool” he said genuinely. 

“You should probably get home anyways. Your friend is probably-“ Gerard started but stopped talking as the two of them turned around to reveal Pete completely unconscious on the couch. His mouth was even hanging open and he looked pretty ridiculous. Frank couldn’t help but giggle, and felt Gerards eyes on him and like he needed to say something. 

“I’m not always like this” he finally said and Gerard cocked an eyebrow, and Frank didn’t really know either why he was apologizing. 

“Like what?” Gerard asked. 

“Like _this_ ” Frank continued. “Y’know, wandering around drunk in the middle of the night on my way home from _something_ and letting my tripping friends fall asleep in houses of people I don’t know. Sorry my tripping friend fell asleep on your couch” 

“It’s cool man” Gerard said and he couldn’t help but laugh, and Frank felt a little pathetic as he realized this was actually pretty much always what he was like. Drunk or in trouble or possibly both. But hey, he was 17, this was what he was supposed to do, right. 

“I’m gonna try and wake him up” 

“You know, it’s okay. Frank, really. Just let him sleep. I would offer that you could stay over too but I haven’t got any more things to sleep on except for my bed, so you can like, I don’t know, go home and sleep and then pick your friend up tomorrow” Gerard explained and Frank almost couldn’t believe how awesome his new neighbor was. 

Still, he felt pretty guilty as he went home and went to sleep, but he discovered that he could actually look into like half of Gerards living room if he stood in front of his own bedroom window in a particular angle, and he could just accurately spot Pete’s feet like this. That somehow made him feel better.

***

A few hours later when it was more midday than morning, Frank dragged himself out of bed after far too little hours of sleep for his liking. But he had to pick up Pete because it would be unfair to bother Gerard with him anymore. Frank winced because he kind of sounded like a worried mom. 

He picked up some clothes from the floor that smelled close to clean and headed out the door, carefully avoiding his mom since he didn’t really have space in his head for her questions right now. It was cold outside and he wish he’d put on his jacket though he was only walking about twenty feet, because he ended up standing outside Gerards door for almost ten minutes knocking. 

When it was finally opened, Frank didn’t immediately recognize the guy in the doorway, who was tall and lanky with glasses and a weird haircut, and about his own age. It wasn’t until the guy spoke and Frank recognized his voice that he placed him as the guy who had helped Gerard move last night. Frank remembered Gerard telling him his name, though it took him a couple of seconds to actually recall it. Mikey.

“Frank, right?” he asked. “Can I help you?”

“My friend is kind of asleep on your brother’s couch” Frank said with an apologetic shrug and Mikey just frowned at him. “Uh, Gerard helped us out last night”

“You literally live next door, why didn’t you take him home?” Mikey asked and a slight twitch of his lips revealed that he was probably more amused than annoyed. 

“We, uh, fell” Frank said as Mikey moved from the doorway and led him inside. 

“You fell all the way from the street and in here?” Mikey let out a small huffing laugh. 

“No, no, we fell and Gerard helped us up and gave my friend some water but then he fell asleep while we were looking at records or something, I think, I was really drunk” 

“Oh, like that” Mikey said with a nod as if that explained everything.

 

When they entered the living room, Pete was lying exactly where Frank had left him, passed out on the couch with his mouth wide open and dirt on his shirt and his shoes still on. Truly charming. Gerard was nowhere to be seen.

“Pete, motherfucker, wake up” Frank yelled and went to shake Petes shoulder. He didn’t react at all at first, and Frank got kind of worried, but then again Pete had always been an insanely heavy sleeper, and after a while he opened his eyes and got a very displeased expression on his face. 

“Where the fuck are we?” he just asked and his voice was hoarse and not really in control. He almost sounded pre-adolescent and like his voice was just about to drop again and Frank snickered. 

“My neighbor’s house” Frank explained, while Mikey just stood leaned against a wall and observed them with the same slightly amused expression. 

“Why are we here?” Pete said and looked around kind of confused, then he looked down at himself and sighed. “What happened?” 

“You fell and I couldn’t get you up, so my neighbor helped us up and you kind of passed out here before we could get home” 

“Okay, yea, but what did I do before that, like, why don’t I remember shit? How fucking drunk was I?” Pete asked and tried to push himself into sitting position, which kind of just resulted in him making an uncomfortable noise and sliding back down. 

“Fuck if I know. I think you took something. I wasn’t with you and I was also really drunk, like, maybe-I-made-out-with-Gabe-but-I-don’t-really-remember-and-he-probably-doesn’t-either-drunk”

“That’s pretty drunk” Pete said and a slightly pained grin spread across his face. “If you really did that I’m so never letting it go” 

“You puked on two different lawns and fell over in the middle of the street and couldn’t get up again, I still think my dignity is the least wrecked here” Frank argued but couldn’t help the smile that crept onto his face too.

“You can’t wreck your dignity if you don’t have one, so I automatically win” Pete said truthfully and then looked over at Mikey. “Who are you?”

“Mikey. Brother of your great savior” Mikey said and nodded towards Pete.  

“Where is he, by the way?” Frank asked 

“Sleeping” Mikey shrugged. “And I was going here to unpack his stuff until he woke up but then there was an unconscious dude on his couch and I didn’t wanna wake any of you so I just, y’know, hung around” 

“Did you watch me while I slept?” Pete just asked curiously and finally pushed himself up in sitting position. 

“That’s creepy as fuck” Mikey replied. 

“It would go well with the whole vampire-thing” Frank added and Mikey turned his attention to him. 

“We’re not vampires” 

“What a shame, would’ve been cool” Pete said and grinned. 

“It kinda would” Mikey replied and almost smiled too.

***

After that, it was almost a week before Frank talked to Gerard again. He only occasionally noticed when the lights was turned on somewhere in his house in the middle of the night, as the only sign of Gerard being home, because unlike every other neighbor Frank had. Gerard was never really outside during the daytime. It made Frank wonder; like when did he buy his groceries and what did he work as. 

Actually, Frank did a whole lot of unintentional thinking of his new neighbor. He was really interesting, besides the fact that he apparently also owned every record or movie Frank had ever sighed at in the store with empty pockets and a just as empty record and movie shelf at home. 

So naturally, as Halloween came closer along with Franks birthday and he and Pete settled for having a horror movie marathon the day before they were actually going to celebrate Frank turning 18, they went to Gerard. 

It took Gerard even longer time to get to the door than it had taken Mikey, though it was close to 8 pm and Frank was almost sure that Gerard was awake. 

“Hey, Frank and dude-whose-name-i-never-really-caught-though-you-drooled-on-my-couch” Gerard said with a smile as he opened the door. 

“It’s Pete” Pete said with a shrug and a grin as Gerard turned his attention back to Frank. 

“So yeah, it’s my birthday soon and we wanna have a Halloween movie marathon and you have like every movie ever, so can we borrow some?” Frank asked straightforwardly and Gerard nodded and led them inside. He’d gotten a little more hold of the house now than the last time and there were fewer boxes everywhere but more stuff lying around. 

“So, when’s your birthday?” Gerard asked curiously, and Frank grinned. He loved being asked that. 

“Tomorrow. On Halloween. I turn 18” he said proudly and Gerard widened his eyes. 

“Oh that is _so_ cool. Congratulations by the way, and uh, I put up all my movies a couple of days ago, so just look around” Gerard said and gestured towards a bookcase that had been empty the first time Frank was in here, but now was filled, shelve by shelve with pure cinematic gold. Frank’s jaw dropped a little and he looked over at Pete and they quickly exchanged looks that clearly stated how utterly amazingly awesome Gerard had just turned out to be. 

“So, which one’s your favorite?” Frank asked as he ran a hand over the backs of the DVD cases. 

“That would be like making me choose between my kids or something” Gerard said with exaggerated shock to his voice and Frank laughed, as Pete casually walked around the living room looking at whatever. 

“Mine’s Dawn of The Dead. Easily” Frank said determined, but a second later he wasn’t so sure. There was a lot of good movies. 

“Hey, is your brother here?” Pete suddenly asked as he had made his way to the kitchen door and curiously looked inside the other room. 

“Uh, no, he’s at home, why?” Gerard asked and Pete looked down. 

“No reason” he said and suddenly got busy fiddling with his zipper. Gerard turned back to Frank, and when Frank shot Pete a very amused look afterwards, all Pete did was pout and look the other way.

 

About half an hour later, while excitedly talking about Halloween and dressing up and different kinds of horror classics with Gerard, Frank and Pete had picked out at least ten movies, and though they probably could only watch half of them tonight, it still felt really, really good to go home with their hands that full.

 

Several hours and equally many bags of microwave popcorn later, Frank and Pete was half asleep in front of Franks TV as yet another one of the Nightmare On Elm Street movies were playing, though nobody really paid attention to it. It was nearly 4 am, and they had been settled in front of the screen for what seemed like days. All in all it had been awesome, but Frank was so tired now that he could barely keep his eyes open. 

So he kind of ungracefully rolled off the bed and staggered over to turn off the TV, and in the few minutes he was over there, putting discs back in their rightful cases so they were as good as when Gerard gave them to them, Pete had already lain down and was almost asleep. He only grunted and moved over when Frank pushed him and slid underneath the covers next to him, and Frank was asleep too within minutes.

***

Turning 18 was a really huge thing for Frank. For many reasons. 

First of all, he could finally get a tattoo, and he wasn’t going to wait very long before he was going to make that happen. Pete was still not hesitating to express his envy about this, as he didn’t turn 18 until June, and couldn’t get inked until then either. Frank had been planning out for months what to get, and he still wasn’t entirely sure, but he had some ideas that he liked a lot though he couldn’t draw to save his life so he didn’t have any sketches of any of it. 

Second of all, they were going trick or treating with costumes and everything at first, competing on who could collect the most candy in littlest time like the 8 year olds they truly were inside, and then afterwards there was a Halloween themed show down at the harbor venue, that he had carefully asked his mom if he could go to, which he had finally gotten permission to, as it was his birthday after all. So there was actually no need to sneak around or go home early or lie tonight. He could do what he wanted and still get away with it, which was another awesome aspect of being 18.

 

Pete had tried to pursue Frank into dressing up as Albert Einstein because of a very lame joke he made about Frank-Einstein and then laughed for about twenty minutes at his own wit, but Frank had rather wanted to dress up as the actual Frankenstein’s monster, with a mask he’d found at the toy store and some of his old clothes that he’d torn a little more than they already was. Pete had gone as a zombie, with grey facepaint, lots and lots of eyeliner and additional excessive amounts of fake blood they had also gotten from the toy store. Right before they left Pete’s house to go trick or treating, he had also rolled around in his front yard to get his clothes more dirty and zombie-like, and Frank had been choking on laughter from watching Pete on the ground.

 

A couple of hours later they returned to Pete’s place with each their overflowing pumpkin-shaped candy basket. It had been a very rewarding trip, since a lot of people thought it was cute to see boys their age trick or treating, either that or they couldn’t really tell that they were actually seniors because neither of them were that tall, and when they were wearing makeup and a mask it was difficult to tell their actual age. Either way, they were both stuffed with candy when they headed for the harbor, still wearing their costumes as an extra detail of awesomeness to the already awesome night.

 

They weren’t the only ones dressed up at the concert, and being in a mosh pit with several other people dressed up as various creepy creatures was about the best thing Frank had ever tried. And though he still didn’t know the name of the band when the set was over and it felt like each and every one of his limbs were sprained, it was the best fucking night of his life. 

As the band left the stage, Frank and Pete headed back for the bar with intentions of getting the bartender to serve them beer, because that would just be like cherries on top of everything good this evening, but halfway through the stream of people heading outside, Pete nudged Frank and pointed towards the back of the room. “Look that’s Mikey” 

And when Frank let his eyes follow Petes finger, he spotted Mikey hanging out at the bar with a beer in his hand and looking almost bored, but Frank kind of suspected that didn’t me he wasn’t having fun. He didn’t really get to think any more about that because then Pete had grabbed his wrist and started almost dragging him towards the bar. 

“Hey” Mikey greeted as they reached him and Pete sent him a grin. “You’re dressed up. That’s cool” 

“Yea, isn’t it?” Pete said. “I tried to get Frank to dress up as Albert Einstein but he didn’t want to” 

“Oh… Like, Frank-Einstein?” Mikey laughed and Pete looked really proud. 

“See Frank, Mikey thinks I’m funny” he said with a crowing tone of voice and Frank sighed. 

“You should start a gang for people who thinks you’re funny. You’d be the only members ever though” Frank snickered and Pete pushed him lightly as the bartender approached them. 

“Can we get two beers?” Pete asked and Frank could tell by the way he straightened up that he really tried to look like someone who was 21. It didn’t really work though. The bartender, a tall girl with black bangs just looked skeptically at them. 

“Don’t you think you’re a little young for that?” she said in a kind of mocking voice and Pete scowled. 

“Hey, Alicia, it’s okay. It’s on me” Mikey cut in and the girl then shrugged and went to get them what they asked for. 

“You know her?” Pete asked and Mikey nodded and gestured towards his beer. 

“Kinda. We went to school together, so it’s okay”  
They stood for a while in silence when Alicia had gotten them their beers, Frank mostly just enjoying the fact that he’d just gotten served an alcoholic beverage at a public place, even if it was Mikeys fault. Being 18 really ruled. 

“Hey, Radiohead” Pete suddenly uttered and let his finger hover over a small badge that Frank hadn’t really noticed was attached to Mikeys denim jacket. 

“You like it?” Mikey asked and his lips twitched upwards again. Frank downed the rest of his beer in one mouthful. 

“Totally” Pete said excitedly, and Frank couldn’t hold back a giggle. 

“Since when did you like Radiohead?” he asked and Pete sent him a burning look. 

“ _Since always_ ” he said pointedly and Frank giggled again. He would really like another beer. 

“Cool” Mikey said with an acknowledging nod. “By the way, Gerard’s having this Halloween thing tonight, you’d probably find out anyways since you live next door, but like, I’m heading there in a minute and maybe you’d wanna join?” 

“Sure” Pete exclaimed even before the question was over and Frank kind of suspected that Mikey could’ve asked Pete to accompany him to a landfill or a swamp and Pete would’ve still gone. 

“Cool” Mikey repeated. 


	3. Chapter 3

Frank was drunk. Again. Actually, he was drunk in Gerards house. Again. 

But this time it was better, partly because Pete wasn’t freaking out and falling over and passing out, and partly because Gerard as well as the rest of the guests at the party were drunk too, and some were even dressed up. It made things less awkward in some way. 

Right now he was on the couch with a beer in his hand, his mask detached and hanging around the back of his neck as Misfits played on the stereo, another aspect of Gerards record collection, and Frank liked him better and better the more he knew about him. Pete was on his left side, and Gerard on his right side, franticly talking to some girl that Frank assumed was his girlfriend. If that was the case, then the conversation wasn’t going very well at all, judging by the tone of their voices, but he wasn’t really clear enough in his head to really pay attention to the words they were saying. He just leaned back and closed his eyes to the sweet sound of American Psycho and let the buzzy feeling of alcohol make him oblivious to everything else around him.

 

He sat like that for a while, and didn’t open his eyes until the he felt Gerard shifting and opened his eyes to discover that the girl had left Gerards side. His eyes were a little regretful, but mostly just a little dull from being drunk. 

“Who was that?” Frank asked, his voice kind of drowsy though he wasn’t really tired. 

“My girlfriend. Or whatever we are, I don’t think she’s gonna be my girlfriend for much longer” Gerard said with a slightly upset expression. 

“Man, I’m sorry. That sucks” Frank empathized and patted Gerards shoulder and accidentally spilled some of his beer on his pants. He didn’t care right now though.

“Wanna go outside for a smoke?” 

“Uh, yea” Gerard said and got up from the couch, Frank following quickly after, brushing at the wet spot of beer at his knee a couple of times until he remembered that it was liquid and he couldn’t brush it off. Then he just went after Gerard that had headed for the door. 

“Let’s just sit here” Gerard suggested and settled down against the wall beneath the kitchen window where he’d been sitting the night where he helped Frank pick Pete up. The grass beneath them was cold, but it was okay. It was quiet out here and there was less crowded, which probably was for the better since Frank kind of sensed that Gerard wasn’t really in the best mood right now. 

“So, what’s up with your girl?” Frank asked, lips closed around an unlit cigarette and his words kind of muffled. Gerard didn’t say anything until he’d gotten his lighter out of his pocket and the cherry of his smoke stood out bright in the dark night. 

“It’s not really her, it’s more me” Gerard said and looked down on his knees. 

“That’s really cliché. I’m sure it’s not just you” Frank shrugged because Gerards words made him think of all the sappy movies he’d accidentally seen half of when his mom was watching them in the living room and he walked through and they actually were kind of catchy. 

“No, Frank, in this case it is literally just me” Gerard said truthfully and Frank frowned at him. 

“So, what’d you do that was so bad?” 

“Uh, maybe it’d be weird telling you when, like, we don’t know each other very well b-“ Gerard started but Frank cut him off with a grin. 

“Gerard, I’m an 18 year old, drunk dude in a Frankenstein costume. I don’t think you could say anything that would freak me out. Besides, you’ve kind of already seen how much of a couple of fuckups we are” he laughed and Gerard kind of smiled too. 

“Y’know, it’s just that I started thinking about things, and maybe I’m- uh, I’m not as much into girls as I thought I was. Okay, yea, there it was. I’m pretty sure I’m gay and that’s why it doesn’t really work out” Gerard stuttered and Frank smiled reassuringly at him. 

“Well, I see why it doesn’t work out then” 

“Yea, but it’s like, I still really, really like just hanging out with her and stuff, and I wish I also wanted to have sex with her and all that, but I just don’t. And she doesn’t really believe me and wants to keep trying but-“ he started and then stopped mid-sentence, like he didn’t really know how he wanted to finish. 

“- You’re already sure?” Frank finished and Gerard nodded. 

“Yea, I’m already sure” 

“Must be tough, but y’know, it’s gonna be okay, and it’s good that you’re finding out and stuff” Frank said and that was probably the worst advice given in the history of ever, but Gerard didn’t seem to mind. He just nodded again. 

“I guess it is” he agreed, and Frank felt that the silence between them got thicker. He took a couple of fast drags of his smoke and put it out in the grass. Gerard looked so upset, Frank really wanted him not to, because as he said, he didn’t know him very well but now Gerard had confessed this to him and he felt like comforting him about it.

“Man, I’m gonna hug you now and then let’s go inside and have another drink” he broke the silence and Gerard looked up at him and snickered a little. 

“Uh, yeah, okay” he said and then Frank leaned over and wrapped his arms around Gerard, whose body was kind of soft underneath his jacket but still surprisingly strong and this was the kind of things Frank only noticed when he was drunk.  
When he pulled back, the both of them got up with help from leaning on the wall, and Frank patted Gerards shoulder again. “It’s gonna be okay man” he nodded just as the kitchen window above them was opened and Pete stuck his head out.

“Hey, how about you two stopped playing Dr. Phil and helped me find Mikey” Pete slurred and Frank could hear that he had already consumed way more alcohol than Frank, but not nearly enough to make him go from standard Pete-behavior to insufferable idiot, which had happened a couple of times as far as Frank remembered. He didn’t want that to happen again. 

“This is actually a very serious matter” Frank said. “More serious than your dick business” 

“My dick business is very important” Pete stated matter-of-factly and Gerard let out a sudden laugh. 

“Shut up” Frank said at the same time as Gerard said “You want to get into my brothers pants?”

Pete shot Gerard a surprised glare as if he hadn’t noticed his presence until now, and then scratched the back of his head and got very interested in looking at the ground beneath them. 

“Maybe” he just huffed and still didn’t look at Gerard. Frank almost choked on laughter beside them. 

“I don’t think you’re the only one, sadly” Gerard said with an indulgent grin and gestured to somewhere down the street where it was too dark to see anything. “I think he went that way a while ago, talking to someone, I’m not sure” he explained and Petes face kind of fell. 

“Well fuck me” Pete said and sounded kind of bummed out. “So, what’s the matter with you two. Why are you all girly out here, instead of partying” 

“Oh, it’s nothing really” Gerard said a little too hurried, and Pete shot him a suspicious look. 

“You might as well tell him” Frank suggested. “He’s a fuckup too. He won’t mind, I promise” 

“Won’t mind what?” Pete asked, his voice turning curious. 

“Uh, that lately I discovered that I’m, uh, I’m kinda gay” Gerard said in a low voice and Pete shrugged. Frank stared at his feet. He kind of wanted to hug Gerard again. He sounded really fragile.  

“Well that’s something I can relate to” Pete said with a cocked eyebrow and shot another glance out in the dark, where there still was no one to be seen. “Literally”  
Gerard giggled again.

***

It was later, a lot later actually, somewhere in the early morning and Frank was back on the couch, though the record from earlier was long over and the stereo was just making some sort of white noise now. Also it was only Gerard next to him and the house around them was slowly emptying out. Pete was still there somewhere too, but he’d been bummed out since Mikey had disappeared and wasn’t much fun to be around at the moment. Frank was too drunk to deal with more than one person’s love life tonight, and since Gerard had already confessed why his relationship was going downwards to him, there wasn’t really space in his mind for Pete too right now. So all he knew was that Pete was somewhere nearby that wasn’t right here, and that was all he needed to know for now. 

He felt like lying down, but Gerard was kind of in the way. His head was spinning a little and he reminded himself that the last beer that seems like a good idea probably isn’t in the long run. Maybe he was just tired, since it was the second night in a row he had stayed up. He remembered that he also had to give Gerard his movies back. 

“I still have your movies” he said without really thinking about it and he felt Gerard nodding next to him. 

“It’s okay. I don’t need them right now” he replied and Frank could feel himself thinking out loud, but it was like there wasn’t really much he could do about it. His brain was really blurry. 

“We didn’t watch all of them. We fell asleep” he confessed and Gerard shrugged. 

“That’s a shame. It was some good movies” 

“I wanna watch them” Frank stated and Gerard turned his head and looked at him. It wasn’t a big couch but they were still sitting kind of close. It was nice, because Frank was tired and he was always cold when he was tired. 

“Now?” Gerard said with a frown and then Frank shrugged. 

“Why not? All your guests are gone and I don’t feel like sleeping yet” Frank suggested and then he felt Gerard getting up. It took a while for him to process that he had to follow. 

“But the movies are at your place” Gerard complained when they had both gotten to their feet, as if he just remembered. 

“But you have like three thousand other movies” Frank shot back and Gerard laughed at his exaggeration. His laugh was really light and girly, and it reminded Frank of a cartoon character from a show he watched when he was younger. Another thing on the list of stuff he only noticed when he was drunk. Maybe that was why he liked being drunk so much, he was much more aware of everyone around him, and less aware of himself. It was nice.

 

Frank went to the bathroom, and on his way back to the living room he discovered that Pete was asleep in the hallway. He was sitting leaned against the wall and Frank couldn’t help but laugh at his misery. Mikey hadn’t returned back to the house after Gerard said he’d seen him leave. Either that or he’d been here all along and no one had really noticed. Mikey was kind of hard to notice sometimes. Except, of course, if you were Pete. 

He went back and sat down next to Gerard who had put on some movie that Frank didn’t really care about, he just wanted something to distract him from his dizziness.

He’d also dug out a blanket from somewhere that he threw around the both of them, and as they sat down Frank noticed that the light in the room was kind of pink and it was apparently already dawn. It wasn’t his birthday anymore. He was officially an adult now, which was funny because he didn’t feel any different than yesterday. 

“I’m an adult today” he informed Gerard as the actors appeared on the screen before them. 

“You don’t sound very happy about it” Gerard noticed and Frank just grimaced. 

“I can’t feel any difference”

“That’s because there isn’t really one. I’ve been an adult for almost five years and the only thing that changed was that I realized that nobody really knows what they’re doing, and I pretty much wanted to be drunk or asleep all day” 

“Is that why you’re only awake at night?” Frank asked curiously. 

“Sometimes. But also because, y’know, I draw for a living, so I can work pretty much any hour of the day. And I like working at night” he explained and Frank nodded slowly. 

“That’s cool. But I don’t wanna be asleep or drunk all day. Not all the time at least” 

“You’re lucky” Gerard said and he sounded a little bitter. Frank still wanted to hug him, like, if he could hug all the bad things out of Gerard, and make him stop sounding so upset. 

“I just really wanna lie down right now” 

“You can lie down, I’ll just move a little” Gerard said and shifted further back in the couch, so Frank could slide down with his legs across Gerards lap and put his head on the armrest. He felt a lot better already.

 

It didn’t take long before Gerard got tired of sitting up as well and lay down next to Frank. It was weird being so close to him, but in a good way. It wasn’t that he wasn’t used to it; Frank slept next to Pete like this all the time, but this was different in some way. Gerard was taller, and softer to lay so close to than Pete. His body was also unknown to Frank, who had known Pete since 3rd grade and they had seen each other naked countless times, they’d been in fist fights and they’d even made out once when they were in a spin the bottle game, and once when they weren’t. They were best friends. He had only just met Gerard, and all these thoughts suddenly overwhelmed him, because he wanted to get to know Gerard better, but not in the same way as he knew Pete. He wanted to turn around and look at him, but all he looked at right now was the inside of his eyelids as his eyes drifted close.

 

He didn’t sleep yet. He was just lying with his eyes shot, listening to Gerards steady breathing and the faint sounds of the movie still playing, when he felt Gerards arm carefully slide around him and his hand settle on Franks stomach, so Gerard was pretty much spooning him. He was too drunk to think any further of it, because it felt really nice. 

He didn’t really know if Gerard was sleeping or not, and it didn’t really matter either because at some point he felt Gerards hand move a little, like he was drawing some kind of pattern with his fingers where Franks shirt had slid up a little. His hands were warm and it felt really good. Actually, as his brain suddenly cleared up a little, it felt _really_ good. Like, worryingly good. 

“Gerard?” Frank mumbled and he heard Gerard hum in response behind him. “Are you awake?”

“Kinda” Gerard hummed again and didn’t stop moving his hand. His fingertips wasn’t even close to Franks crotch, they were just circulating above his belly button, but Frank could still feel his body tense as blood rushed from his head and downwards. This could turn embarrassing really fast, since he apparently was still _that_ much of a teenager, no matter what his birth year said. And his drunken brain wasn’t helping. 

“If you keep touching me like that, I’m gonna get a boner” Frank blurted before he could stop himself and Gerard huffed out a soundless laugh that Frank could feel against the back of his neck, where his Frankenstein mask had been earlier tonight. He didn’t remember when he’d taken it off. 

“Your skin is really soft” Gerard just said and still didn’t stop moving. After a while he reached Franks hip, where soft flesh and pointy hipbone melted together. 

“I want a tattoo right there” Frank stated when he didn’t really know what else to say, and Gerard stilled his hand for a moment, on the spot where Frank was imagining ink decorating him sometimes soon. 

“That’d be cool. Tattoos are cool” Gerard said and let his hand move again. Frank had pretty much given up on trying making his dick stay soft by now, and tried to stay focused as he could feel his jeans get tighter. 

“I also want sleeves” he whispered and Gerard let his hands slide from Franks hip and up to his lower arms, slowly moving up and down on the skin. 

“Here?” he asked and Frank nodded as much as he was able to. 

“And on my neck” he continued. “Like on the side of it”

Gerard kissed the spot on his neck that Frank had described and Frank couldn’t help hitching a breath. “There?” Gerard asked. He had only briefly touched Franks skin with his lips, but Frank could still sense the warm feeling on him. 

“Yeah” he said, a bit longingly, not even knowing what he was really longing for right now. Gerard kissed his neck again and Franks breath became unsteady again, but this time Gerard didn’t take his mouth away. His lips just softly trailed over Franks neck, until meeting his jawline and Frank was breathing heavily and really trying not to moan. It was really strange how naturally this came. This wasn’t anything Frank had planned on or even thought of before, but now that it was happening he kind of just went along with it, maybe because he was drunk but maybe not.

Frank shivered when he felt Gerards tongue. He imagined what his own skin must taste like, and came to the conclusion that it was probably a mix of tobacco and sweat, but Gerard didn’t seem to mind, sucking and nibbling on his neck. Frank whimpered because he had become painfully hard in a matter of minutes. 

“Gerard?” he said and there wasn’t an immediate answer. “Gerard, I-“ 

“Huh?” Gerard whispered, and Frank had wanted to say something, he really had, but in that instant Gerards hand that had been steady on his lower arm suddenly came to live again and slid back down across his stomach, but this time it continued downwards. 

“Oh, fuck” Frank moaned and tilted his head backwards a little as he bucked into Gerards hand. He figured that because Gerard was a few years older and had a girlfriend and was long done with high school, plus he was kind of pretty, he had probably had lots of sex and this wasn’t any big deal to him, it was just being drunk and a little sad and a little horny. And it probably shouldn’t mean a lot to Frank either, but he had never really done anything with anyone except making out, so when Gerards warm hand started palming his dick through his jeans, it pretty fast became a pretty big deal. 

So, Frank did what any other sensible human would’ve done if a drunk and pretty guy was feeling them up, he unbuttoned his jeans so Gerard could stick his hand inside them. Frank let out a half-loud moan when Gerards first touched his dick, probably a little too loud considering Pete was right out in the hallway, but then again Pete was sleeping drunk and he could sleep through a hurricane if he’d just been drunk enough. 

“Fuck, Gerard, that feels really good” he panted while Gerard carefully wrapped his palm around him and started jacking him off, really slow and deep and if Frank had been alone with his own hand, he would’ve gone impatient by now and sped up, but it was different with Gerard. 

“Hmm” Gerard hummed in his ear and took his earlobe into his mouth. Frank was going to come really fast if Gerard kept doing all these things to him, because it was like every place where Gerard touched him suddenly became burning hot in a very good way, and he really didn’t want him to stop. 

Hell, Frank hadn’t even known that he was _this_ into dudes before Gerard had touched him, he had actually never clarified anything with himself about his sexuality, he just really liked being touched and as long as anyone wanted to touch him, he really didn’t want to complain about whether there was another dick involved or not. He liked that about himself. 

“Gerard, oh fuck, Gerard, I’m really close” he sighed and Gerard moaned lowly and deep into his ear and Frank really couldn’t contain all of this, it was all really hot and he was only human. He pushed backwards, pressing his whole body against Gerards and swore as he came all over the inside of his boxer briefs and Gerards hand. 

For a while after that he just laid there, his head buzzing in post-orgasm bliss, and Gerard just kept his hand tugged inside the edge of his pants, and it was comfortable feeling the weight of it on his hip. Frank was actually really comfortable in most ways right now. 

He turned around anyways, and looked at Gerards face for the first time since they lay down. His eyes had dark circles underneath them and his hair was a little ruffled and he was slightly out of breath, all features that made him seem pretty hot in Franks eyes. So Frank leaned in and kissed him. 

At first it was really soft, and Frank kind of enjoyed it more than then neck-kissing, mostly because this was more mutual, and then Gerard got kind of demanding, which was also really hot, and Frank was reminded that he was the only one who had gotten off yet. 

He let his hand run along Gerards torso, he had discarded his jacket somewhere and was only wearing a t-shirt now and Frank could feel his heated body through the fabric. Gerard whimpered into his mouth as Frank started unbuttoning his pants as well. His tongue was licking into Franks mouth and his lip got tugged between Gerards teeth. It made him feel really inexperienced, but Gerard didn’t seem to care. Frank wondered if he was Gerards first guy. He probably was, which made them kind of equal he guessed.

Gerard pressed his forehead to Franks and their mouths parted as Frank started moving his hand slowly up and down, quickly speeding up a little, and Gerard breathed into his mouth, hot and heavy, and he smelled like beer and cigarettes and it shouldn’t really be hot, but it was. 

Gerard, unlike Frank, didn’t really say anything until he came, but when he came it was pretty loud considering they weren’t completely alone in the house, and it got all over Franks shirt and hand, but he just kind of wiped it off on the blanket that was still covering them. 

Frank felt worn out and drowsy, and now he wanted to go to sleep, but it was still nice when Gerard kissed him softly on the lips, much different than the passionate kissing before. They both drifted to sleep with their faces really close and Frank didn’t remember it being so nice being that close to someone. It was almost daylight in the room by now. 


	4. Chapter 4

Mikey and Pete were there when Frank woke up. Gerard wasn’t. 

He was alone on the couch, the blanket with obvious spots on it still covering him, and it wasn’t cold at all anymore. He was still wearing all his clothes, though his jeans were still unzipped. He heard vague talking from the kitchen, and he really hoped it was Gerard who was making some sort of breakfast and would kiss him when he walked in there despite his morning breath and they would maybe exchange lazy morning handjobs after they’d eaten and then he would go home, drunk on this really comfortable feeling that he’d had last night too. Of course he wasn’t that lucky. 

It was Mikey and Pete that was settled around the small table with a newspaper spread out between them, talking about a scientific article or something else that Pete would never even look at on his own, and they almost whispered, probably because they hadn’t wanted to wake Frank. His stomach clenched a little. “Where’s Gerard?”

“With his girlfriend. He left pretty early, said it was urgent” Mikey said indifferently and turned his attention back to Pete and the newspaper. He didn’t even know how he had just made Franks heart drop. “Pete, no, it says here that it was _recent studies._ That means it’s new” 

Frank sighed. He didn’t really know if he should let them know that he was upset and why, it was kind of a weird  thing to tell people. Especially Mikey, ‘hey I hooked up with your brother last night and now he has gone to see his girlfriend and that kinda pisses me majorly off’, so he didn’t say anything. 

“But, I swear I’ve read something like that before. Sometimes I think they just research the same stuff over and over to sound smart” Pete argued and Frank didn’t really want to spend any more time in this house. 

“I’m going home” he announced and the two others looked up from the news. “Just like, come over later or something” he said to Pete before heading out the door.

 

It was a fairly short walk home, so it wasn’t long until he was underneath the steaming water of his own shower. He was thinking about Gerard. He felt like punching something, because they had been so drunk and fucked up last night, and Gerard had also been sad and confused and Frank really shouldn’t put anything into it, but he just couldn’t help that he kind of did.

 

Pete came over later, and he almost beamed from the moment he walked through Franks door. Frank sighed again. 

“What’s up?” Pete just asked when he noticed Franks frustrated expression. 

“Everything” Frank confessed dramatically and Pete widened his eyes and sat down on Franks bed next to him. 

“As in?” he asked curiously, and Frank could tell that he really tried to empathize but had trouble doing it because he was in an incredibly good mood himself. Frank kind of understood it, but it didn’t really help him. 

“I, kinda, uh, I hooked up with Gerard” Frank sad flat out and Petes jaw dropped. 

“You did what?” he said and almost giggled. “What? When?” 

“Uh, this morning. You were asleep so we watched a movie except we didn’t really watch the movie, like, at all” Frank said and there was a notch of pride in his voice. It was always something to share hookup stories with his best friend, no matter how upsetting the aftermath might be. 

“Did you fuck?” Pete asked smugly and Frank shook his head, but couldn’t help but grin anyways. It was really nice just being him and Pete, it was like it made him worry less. 

“No, not fucking, just y’know- “ 

“Yeah” Pete agreed before Frank told anymore. “So, what’s the problem w- Oh” Pete cut himself of in the middle of his sentence and Frank saw his expression fall as he put Franks words together with what Mikey had said and realized why Frank had been pissy this morning. “That’s kind of a douche move. To just go” 

“Tell me about it” Frank said and shrugged. He didn’t really know what to say anymore, but Pete leaned over and put his arm around him, and that helped. They sat like that for a while and Frank kept sighing deeply and he could’ve cried if he wanted to because he knew Pete didn’t care. He just didn’t cry, because this wasn’t the kind of thing that made him sad, it just made him angry at himself mostly. Or maybe he really wanted to cry but didn’t because he was a grownup now. He didn’t really know.

***

Frank sulked for almost a week, and in said week Pete also started clinging to his phone more than usual, as if his life depended on it. He didn’t really wanna talk about who he texted though, but Frank had a clue. So they didn’t talk a lot at school, not that they did anyways since they were both as close so zombies at school as anyone got outside Halloween, but it was even less with Frank moping and Pete texting.

As it became Friday once again, there was a party once again, and as if his mom had just magically turned into a pile of small miracles, he was allowed to go again, as long as he stayed over at someone’s afterwards. 

So Frank decided to stop being upset and drink his brains out, because what better ways to deal with his problems were there really. He hadn’t seen Gerard all week and he hadn’t looked for him either, so he guessed that either Gerard didn’t wanna talk to him or else he’d understood that Frank didn’t really want to talk to him.

 

Pete disappeared to make a phone call already half an hour after they’d arrived at Gabe’s house where the party was held and Frank was left alone with his red cup filled with too much rum, and a lot of people he didn’t know. He kind of wanted to find Gabe because if there was anyone who knew how to party away a heartache, it was him.

 

He did find him, but not until a while later, after consuming a good amount of drinks and with the familiar numb feeling washing over him. Pete was still gone, but Frank suspected that he was still somewhere in the house just not being in the mood to party. It was kind of unlike Pete, but it was kind of typical behavior for someone who was resolutely trying to get into someone who wasn’t here’s pants. It was a weird mix. 

So when Gabe approached him with a really good looking brunette by his side that Frank suspected was the girl he’d been hitting on at the last party they’d been to, Frank welcomed him gladly. 

“Man, Frankie, I’ve been doing more tequila shots than I can count by now and even _I_ can see that you’ve got issues” Gabe announced and the girl giggled. Frank shrugged. 

“I guess I do” he agreed and Gabe let the arm that wasn’t around the girls shoulder slip around Franks. 

“Do you need a quick hookup, because if you do, I’ve got plenty of recommendations” he said knowingly and Frank didn’t really know what to say. He didn’t really know if he needed a hookup. 

“Dunno. Maybe I just wanna be drunk. Drunker” he explained and Gabe nodded. 

“The drunker the better. We’ve still got more tequila” and then after a short pause he suddenly looked like he’d seen the secrets of the universe. “We could do _body tequila_ ”

“Whatever” Frank said and didn’t hesitate following Gabe around the house picking everyone up that would be up for that.

 

Next thing Frank really remembered was puking on the pavement outside Gabes house. He had enough tequila in him to serve him the rest of his life, and his tongue had been on more peoples bodies in the past few hours than he would really like to think of. And now his mouth just tasted like puke and Pete was still nowhere to be seen. Being 18 kind of sucked, and he realized Gerard had been kind of right. He mostly wanted to be drunk or asleep.

 

He stayed over at Gabes house, but left early in the morning before anyone else woke up. He couldn’t sleep anyways and didn’t feel like talking to anybody, so he was out in the annoyingly fresh November air at what seemed like the crack of fucking dawn. He kind of wanted to go talk to Gerard, but he didn’t know what he was going to say. Gerard had taken his virginity and then ran off to go see his girlfriend and Frank was still convinced that was a pretty fucking shitty thing to do. Though, Gerard hadn’t exactly known Frank was a virgin, but still, he could at least have told Frank to call him or kissed him good morning or explained what the fuck was up with him.   
It wasn’t really fair that he suddenly started confessing his secrets to Frank while they were both drunk and then started touching him inappropriately and ended up having sex with him and then just left and didn’t say anything.

 

Frank threw up again when he came home and then he went to bed. He didn’t wake up until it was dark outside again.

***

Pete came over the next day, and he’d brought a couple of his own weird sappy movies and a six pack of beer. He also turned his phone off as soon as they’d settled in front of the TV, and sometimes Frank was really grateful that Pete was his friend. 

His mom wasn’t home so they held smoke break about halfway through one of the movies, and didn’t bother going outside since it was easier to just lean out of Franks bedroom window instead. Frank was almost done when he spotted a well-known figure making its way across the street below them and Pete looked like his grin was going to split his face in half. 

“Hey Mikey” he yelled and Frank gave a half-hearted wave. Mikey waved back but didn’t say anything, but that never stopped Pete from talking. “Did you see the tracks I sent you?” 

“Yea, they were rad” Mikey replied, his voice a little muffled from the distance between them and also from the wind that had increased the past couple of days. It would probably start snowing soon, if Frank knew the Jersey weather well, and he kind of did. “I’ll text you later” Mikey greeted after another few moments and then kept on walking. 

“Also, did you know” Pete yelled and Mikey turned around and shot a last glance in their direction. “You’re three times more likely to be gay if you have an older sibling that’s gay” 

Frank could see Mikey trying to keep a straight face as he turned around and kept walking, but he couldn’t oversee his snicker, and Frank himself felt like he hadn’t really laughed like this for longer than what was good for him, while Pete just looked incredibly smug. Yeah, Frank was really glad that Pete was his friend.

***

On Monday, Frank didn’t go to school and when his mom asked why, he just told her that he didn’t feel very well, and it wasn’t really a lie.

On Tuesday he did go to school because he’d discovered that spending an entire day in his bed resulted in way too many chances to glance over at Gerards house, that was dark and lifeless during the daytime as always.

On Wednesday Pete told him he needed to do something about his life, and that was something when it came from Pete, and on Friday Frank decided that he wanted to talk to Gerard.

***

He wasn’t wearing a jacket and as he stood shivering on Gerards doorstep, he wrote a mental note to himself saying that he should just always bring a jacket whenever he was going here because no matter who opened the door they were took a fucking eternity to get to it. 

It was Gerard who answered, and Frank was a little unprepared to being face to face with him all of sudden. He was also suddenly reminded that the last time he had actually seen Gerard they had been kissing and falling asleep and sticky. Frank felt his insides twist a little. 

“Hey” Frank just said and Gerard kicked the ground a little and looked epically uncomfortable. Frank felt that he kind of deserved it and it made him feel a little better. 

“Hey. You wanna come in?” Gerard asked and Frank shook his head. 

“I’d rather go for a walk. I wanted to talk to you” he said honestly and Gerard nodded slowly. “I just have to get my jacket. It’s fucking freezing” 

“You can just take one of mine” Gerard suggested. 

“Okay” Frank said, and accepted the leather jacket that he was handed and put it on. It was a few numbers too big for him, but it didn’t really matter. 

“I’m going for a walk, I’ll be back later” Gerard shouted over his shoulder, and Frank vaguely heard Mikey respond from somewhere inside the house. His brother actually spent an awful lot of time in his brother’s house, considering that he didn’t really live there, and Frank wondered where Mikey went to school. It couldn’t be far from here. He’d have to ask Pete. In theory he could also ask Gerard, but he wasn’t going to talk about Mikey with Gerard right now. 

“Um, you can tell Pete that Mikey’s over” Gerard said awkwardly, and Frank shrugged. 

“He already knows. He talked about hanging out with him at school”  Frank quickly dismissed the subject because he didn’t really want Gerard to try and sneak around the subject. He just wanted it over with, because he really liked Gerard and it kind of just got worse as the days passed. 

“So-“ he said as a starters and Gerard looked at him with a genuinely apologizing look in his eyes. 

“I’m sorry” he said and Frank shrugged. 

“Don’t be. Just don’t be an asshole either” 

“I broke up with my girlfriend. She was really pissed” Gerard said, a little out of nowhere. 

“So what, then?” Frank asked. They were walking relatively close down the sidewalk and sometimes their shoulders brushed against each other briefly. That was comforting in some way.

“I don’t know” Gerard stated and Frank sighed. “Are you pissed at me?” 

“Kinda” Frank explained, but he wasn’t really anymore. “I was a virgin”   
Gerard stopped walking and looked over at Frank, who could feel himself blushing. “Why didn’t you say anything?” 

“I was drunk. Would you have stayed then?” 

“I don’t know. I had to settle some shit” 

“I figured” Frank said and they had already walked through a couple of streets between their sentences, and was approaching the old playground that was in the edge of the neighborhood. Frank had used it when he was a kid, but there weren’t a lot of kids left in the neighborhood, most moved away with the years, so it was kind of deserted. Frank went over and sat down on one of the swings in the swingset and waited as Gerard sat on the other. 

“You remember that thing you said, about wanting to be drunk or asleep all the time?” Frank asked and Gerard nodded. “I didn’t feel like that when, y’know, I was with you”   
Frank could feel himself blushing at his confession, but Gerard just let out a little laugh, that didn’t really express any kind of joy. It was just kind of dry. “You were also already drunk there” 

“But, also just when talking to you” Frank argued and Gerard smiled at him again, still without looking happy. 

“You were also drunk those times” he said, and Frank had to sit and reconsider for a while because Gerard was right, this was pretty much the first time they’d talked while he was completely sober. 

“But, I don’t necessarily need to be” he said. “Stop laughing, asshole, you know what I mean” Frank said and he couldn’t help but laugh a little too. 

“Yea, I know. I like you Frank” Gerard said honestly his smile became more genuine. “It’s just a little confusing right now” 

“I got the confusing part. But, like, I like you too, a lot actually, and I kinda really wanna kiss you and I can’t figure shit out, so please just tell me if kissing you is an option or not” Frank said slightly desperately, and Gerard smiled wider. 

“I think it’s most definitely an option”

 

They walked back towards their houses hand in hand, and Frank liked how Gerard looked with burning cheeks and lips slightly wet and swollen from kissing, and he was pretty sure Gerard had also left a hickey somewhere on his neck.

 

“You still haven’t seen my room” Frank said when they turned down their own street. 

“You wanna show me your room?” Gerard asked with a smile and Frank nodded. 

When they had almost reached Franks house, they spotted Pete who was running towards them with a big squared thing in his hands. Gerard nudged Frank and gestured towards him as he came closer. 

“What’s he carrying?” 

“It looks like a boombox” Frank said and couldn’t help laughing. Half the time Pete’s sudden impulses were kind of cool and the other half they were just completely ridiculous. Frank sensed that whatever this was, it leaned more towards the latter. When Pete reached them he sent them a shit-eating grin. 

“Nice to see you finally making reasonable decisions” he said and looked at their entwined fingers. 

“Speaking of reasonable decisions” Frank replied and nodded towards the thing, that was very much a boombox, in Petes arms. 

“I am about to make one too” he said and sounded like he was trying to be mysterious, without much success. Then he headed past them and entered Gerards front yard. 

“Are you going to harass my brother with that thing?” Gerard asked laughing. 

“It’s not harassing if he secretly likes it” Pete shot back and Frank pulled Gerards arm as Pete started calling for Mikey, who shortly after stuck his head out through the kitchen window. Frank really wanted to go inside his own house before he had to witness this. It could get really embarrassing. On the other hand it could also get really entertaining, but in that case they would be able to see the whole scenario from Franks bedroom window.

 

They were sitting on Franks bed, still holding hands, but without shoes or jackets on. It felt really casual, though none of them were saying anything. It was kind of quiet.

That was, of course, until Radiohead started blasting out over the neighborhood and Frank couldn’t contain his curiousness anymore. He turned around and looked out the window, and Gerard joined him moments after. 

They could easily see Pete down on the front lawn next door, standing legs spread and with the boombox over his head, and Mikey looking a little embarrassed as he leaned out the window, but also with a really huge smile across his face. It made Frank feel kind of light inside, especially when he still had Gerards fingers in his. 

“There’s a Radiohead show next month and I think you should go with me to it” Pete announced in a very loud tone of voice, and Frank couldn’t help but think about all the elderly couples that lived on the street besides them. Their lives had probably been really dull until Gerard moved in and things started happening on the street. 

“What if I don’t?” Mikey asked teasingly, and Pete just looked undefeatable. 

“Then I’ll start singing along. I learned the lyrics to every single song on the album” he shouted and Mikeys eyes widened. 

“You really did that?” 

“Wouldn’t lie to you” Pete yelled sincerely. 

“Of course not” Mikey grinned. 

“So is that a yes?” Pete asked as the slow tune kept streaming from the speakers. “Because the next part is my favorite part of the song and I am awesome at singing it” 

“Yea” Mikey said with a grin and Pete looked a little bit like Frank felt. “So it’s okay if you don’t sing”

Pete sung anyways. 

Frank subtly closed the window to mute his friend and turned his attention back to Gerard who was giggling. “That’s the most interesting way anyone has ever asked my brother out” 

“He gets asked out a lot?” Frank asked and Gerard shrugged. 

“More than me” 

“I’ll ask you out” Frank offered. “But I’m not as creative as Pete” 

Gerard laughed again. “That’s totally fine with me. But I’d rather just sit here and kiss you right now, maybe stick my hand down your pants, and then hang around afterwards”

“I can roll with that” Frank said before diving in to kiss Gerard. 


	5. Chapter 5

“Don’t touch it” Frank hissed. “It fucking hurts” 

“Sorry, it’s just-“ Gerard started dreamily and almost let his hand reach out again before he remembered to stop himself. “It’s really cool” 

“Yea and it’s all yours to touch in a few weeks when it’s healed” Frank promised and Gerard grinned. Then Frank put back on his shirt, covering up the freshly made tattoo on his upper back, grimacing a little as the fabric touched his skin, while Gerard grabbed his keys and headed for the front door. 

Frank pulled on a jacket, even slower than he had put on the shirt, wincing at every slight move and cursing the Jersey snow. When he headed out the door and slammed it after him, Gerard had already started the van and was waiting for him. 

When he got in, he had to sit painfully straight up the whole way, because leaning onto the backrest made the skin on his back feel on fire. He kind of regretted going with Gerard to pick up Pete and Mikey from the show they’d been talking excitedly about for over a month now, because it would definitely have worked better for him if he was just laying at home on the couch on his stomach, watching a movie and eating popcorn and feeling sorry for himself because his skin hurt. 

He kind of forgot to be regretful when Gerard suddenly pulled over in the middle of the highway. 

“What?” Frank asked. 

“I just gotta-, uh” Gerard said before leaning over and pressing his mouth quickly to Franks. Frank was kind of surprised but kissed back as much as he could before Gerards lips parted from his again, only to lower themselves down to his neck. 

“Gerard?” Frank asked a bit surprised as Gerards mouth worked lower and lower on his body until he was completely bent down and fiddling with Franks zipper. It all went really fast.

“Mmmh” Gerard just hummed and Frank felt a little dizzy from how quick every ounce of blood in his head had suddenly rushed to his dick. He and Gerard had been having sex pretty frequently the past few weeks and something Frank especially enjoyed about it was that Gerard was so fucking spontaneous. Like, they had spent all day in bed and he didn’t do anything until they were in the middle of the highway. Frank liked that a lot about Gerard. 

Another thing he liked about Gerard was the way he teased. He undid Franks zipper and shoved his boxers down impatiently, but he didn’t just put Franks dick in his mouth. He licked and kissed and touched first, making Frank squirm above him, which was pretty fucking difficult for Frank when he couldn’t lean back at the same time because that would just hurt. 

When Gerard finally took as much as he could of Frank in his mouth, a moan escaped Franks throat and his hand automatically found Gerards hair, tugging and pulling lightly, and Frank let his head fall back as Gerard let his hands run up and down Franks thighs and hips. 

Frank had spent most of his time around Gerards place for about a month now, and he was pretty sure he actually spent more nights in Gerards bed than his own, and during that time he had discovered that Gerard loved giving head, and would gladly do it all the fucking time, so he had gotten really, really good at it really fast, and

Frank didn’t know when his life became this awesome but he was gonna embrace it as much as possible. 

Which was exactly what he did right now, as he whimpered loudly and watched the windows of the car get a little fogged up, while Gerard sank deeper and deeper. And it was like record short time before Frank felt his stomach tighten up and grabbed Gerards hair a little tighter. Gerard hummed around his dick and looked up at Frank with huge eyes. It sent Frank over the edge almost immediately, and he intensely watched Gerards cheeks hollow as he sucked him dry. It was probable his favorite view in the whole world. 

“Holy shit, Gerard” Frank sighed when Gerard stretched back up and sent him a smug grin. 

“You seemed tense” he just said and put his hands on the wheel, starting the car again.

 

As soon as they arrived at the venue where Pete and Mikey had spent the evening, Frank was jumped by his best friend, whom he suspected had looked out for the car for a while. 

“Motherfucker. Show it to me” Pete demanded while Mikey was standing a few feet away with a blissful expression on his face. Frank proudly tugged up his shirt and jacket and let Pete admire the work of art on his back, that he’d gotten made earlier that day when Pete and Mikey had already left for Radiohead. 

“This is so fucking cool” Pete stated. “Did it hurt?”

“Yea. Pretty bad, but it was worth every second” Frank beamed and as he let his shirt fall down again, Gerard snaked a couple of his fingers into Franks back pocket. “How was Radiohead?”

“Awesome” Pete and Mikey said at almost the same time and Frank hadn’t even had to ask, he could see the answer painted across their faces. They also stood really close against each other, and though they weren’t holding hands or anything, Frank knew that it meant _something._ He still wasn’t sure exactly what but he had his assumptions and he was going to make Pete confirm them later. 

“Wanna hit the road?” Gerard asked and the others nodded. 

“Can we drive past Burger King on the way, we kinda forgot to eat dinner?” Pete asked and made a victorious gesture when Gerard shrugged and nodded.

 

In the car, Frank turned on the stereo that was already in the middle of an Anthrax record that they’d listened to while driving some other day. He put his hand on Gerards thigh, and could feel him tense underneath his touch, but neither of them did anything else. Frank just kept his hand there as a steady reminder what he was going to do to Gerard when they got home. 

In the backseat, Pete and Mikeys silhouettes that had started out in each their side of the car, had melted together to one kind of blurry shape and Frank could hear them whispering to each other. And by the time they were on the highway again, all four of them had forgotten about Burger King.

 

The week before Christmas, Frank went away for a week to visit his aunt and uncle, and when he came back he went straight to Gerards place, dropped his bags in the hallway and let his boyfriend hug him tight. He still wasn’t exactly used to the term ‘boyfriend’ though that was probably pretty much what he and Gerard was by now.

And at the end of the week, when Frank discovered that he hadn’t actually been home for an entire week, and when he went into the bathroom that night before heading to bed, he saw that Gerard had unpacked some of his stuff for him, including Franks toothbrush that was placed in the cup on the sink next to Gerards. It was subtle and it made Frank smile at his reflection in the bathroom mirror.

Frank suddenly felt very grown up, but it wasn’t either terrifying or overwhelming as he had expected his entire life, because he didn’t want to be either drunk or asleep right now. He just wanted Gerard, and that was a pretty easily fulfilled wish since Gerard was in the next room waiting for him. 

He quickly brushed his teeth and when he was done he put the toothbrush back in the cup. He should probably get used to the term ‘boyfriends’. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End. 
> 
> This became really long and really dumb, at it kind of emerged from me listening a whole lot to Save Rock N Roll and thinking a whole lot about growing up.


End file.
